Our communities are not war zones

Victory! May 18, 2015: President Obama announced a ban, effective immediately, on the federal government’s transfer of certain military vehicles and weaponry to local and state police departments in the U.S.

Update: On August 23rd, 2014, President Obama called for a review of federal programs that fund and incentivize wartime arsenals for local police forces. Help us keep up the pressure on the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice: tell them to stop funding the militarization of local police.

Local police, armed to the teeth with wartime weaponry, treat us like the enemy, especially if we're Black, young, poor, or homeless.

The Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice are funneling billions of dollars to state and local law enforcement agencies every year to help them purchase military weaponry and equipment. What business do DOD, DHS, and DOJ have funding a war here at home?

With our country’s long history of aggressive policing in communities of color, it shouldn’t surprise us that these wartime tools and tactics are hitting poor and black neighborhoods hardest. To start undoing the damage, the feds need to stop funding this war.

Good policing is about trust, which has been severely eroded through the use of excessive force and police brutality. If police forces across America continue to militarize and treat communities of color as the enemy, they will increasingly be seen as an occupying army.

Stopping the funding and incentivizing of police militarization is a crucial first step to ending this war.

Tell the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice: Stop funding the siege on communities of color.

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The Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice:

Stop funneling billions into the militarization of state and local police forces - stop funding the siege on communities of color. Our communities should not be war zones.